NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 262, 6 November 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Maintaining a Standard. "It was derided to make the blazers something to strive for —a distinction, and if they arc awarded to placed athletes in the junior championships it is going to lower that standard," said Mr. K. Keattie at a meeting of the Canterbury centre of the New Zealand Athletic Association when the question of distributing blazers to Canterbury representatives in the Dominion junior athletic championships was discussed. It was decided not to give the junior representatives blazers. It's an /U Wind. The truth of an old saying has been proved again in connection with the new entrance to the Parnell baths. Hitherto swimmers have been forced to climb steep flights of stairs before and after their swim, but tho new entrance has considerably reduced the length of climb. Curiously enough, it was constructed not so much because of the convenience to patrons as the fact that the old approach was becoming unsafe and the construction of a new one was cheaper than the demolition and reconstruction of the old one. Many Week-end Fires. t'itv and suburban lire brigades had a busy week-end. much of the work being caused by (• tiy l-~uwk.es bonlires "citing out of hand. Fifteen calls, including one justifiable false alarm, were answered by city brigades, while the Devonport, Takapuna and Northcote engines were also called out at the week-end. The most serious call to a bonfire was in Wellington Street, where slight damage was caused to a shed. Four fires other than grass or scrub blazes were suppressed by city brigades, but in no case was the damage extensive. Anti-Sciatic Potato. He should have known better, as he is a member of a profession that prides itself on being "hard boiled," but when he came to work this morning he admitted that his sciatica was cured by carrying a sliced potato in his pocket. Ho produced the potato, and said rather shamefacedly: "I don't know the whys or wherefores, but I do know that when I carry this I have no pain. Before, I could scarcely stagger around." To prove his contention he strode rapidly up and down the office without effort. Whether it was the potato or his faith in the efficacy of the cure mattered little, but those who knew him agreed that he was a different man. Concentrated lighting Scheme. In the 14 years that have passed since the Dunedin Exhibition, illuminating engineers have been given vastly greater and more varied resources, and these have been used to the full in the Wellington Exhibition. Ry way of comparison it may be mentioned that whereas the peak load for all purposes at Dunedin was 1200 kilowatts, the Centennial Exhibition will require .">OOO kilowatts, or about as much power ais is normally consumed by n town of 25.000 people. Altogether 22.T1 miles of wiring has been installed, and the lighting of the buildings and grounds calls for 37,000 lamps as well as a considerable length of luminous tubing. Driver Saves Child from Injury. Only the prompt action of the bus driver saved a small child from serious injury at a stop in Wheturangi Road on Saturday afternoon. The bua was slowing down when the child, breaking away from his guardian, inside the vehicle, ran to the door. Just as he was falling off the step the driver grabbed him with his free hand. The bus was travelling about 20 miles an hour, and had the child fallen he would probably have been severely injured. Whether the driver acted on the spur of the moment or whether he was used to such occurrences is unknown, but those who witnessed the incident congratulated him upon his action. No Interpreter Required. Interesting comment on drawings done by pupils of the Napier Central School were offered by a visitor who was shown through the school during the diamond jubilee celebrations. The visitors—a lady who had recently returned from America, whore she visited many of the art galleries and exhibitions of the work of modern artists— after commenting on the high standard shown by the more promising pupils, remarked that it was a pleasure to see work of which she could understand the meaning. Art as indulged in by modern American artists was meaningless to her, and while the work of school children could hardly be compared to that of contemporary American masters, it was a relief to see drawings and paintings which did not require an interpreter to point out their meaning to her. Petrol Restrictions. With the petrol restrictions as they are, long-distance motoring at weekends has not been indulged in to any extent since the outbreak of war, but 'excursions to the resorts nearer Auckland have been popular. The run to Helensville has attracted many motorists who previously preferred to go to places further afield. The Public Works Department has improved tho AucklandHelensville road to such an extent that it is hardly recognisable by those who have not been goirtg north for the last year or two. The run can now be accomplished comfortably in just over an hour. For nearly the whole of its length the highway is tarsealed, and it should not be long before the remaining portion, near Helensville itself, is completed. At this time of the year the country is looking a picture with its green paddocks and fruit trees in blossom. Caravans Will be There. Accommodation will be short at ["rush" periods during the Centennial i Exhibition season in Wellington, and as the petrol restrictions are to be lifted at the end of this month many Aucklanders—and others—are making arrangements to motor to Wellington trailing their caravans. This will be a novel way of solving the vexed problem of board and lodging at a period when those in a position to let rooms are expecting to reap a rich harvest. Many Wellington residents who have never in the past even thought of letting a room have given their names and addresses to the Exhibition authorities responsible for that branch of the business, and the prices some people are expecting to get savour of profiteering, to say the least. Those who have houses on wheels, or even trailers to accommodate tents and camp equipment will be looked oi»; askance by some of the Wellington residents who are in the rooming busif ness for the first time this jmu, j

Compulsory Unionism. "It would appear that we should adopt tho principle of compulsory unionism in our organisation," said Mr. A. E. Kincaid, president of the Kmplovers' Association of Canterbury, \Vcstlan<l arid Marlborough, at the annual meeting. Mr. Kincaid referred to the loss of members of the association during the year, and pointed out that all employers should bo in an organisation which was working oil their behalf. Overhang on Trams. (ienerally speaking, the pedestrian standing within a foot or 18 inches of u. passing tram is quite safe. This, however, is not the case on some corners, for there the rear of the tram swings as much as 3ft and 4ft from its normal 1 iii<* of travel. The corner of Customs and Queen Streets is a place, on account of the pedestrian traffic, where special care has to be taken to keep clear of the rear swing of cars turning into and out of Queen Street. Unusual Pig. White wild boars are rare, and a cross between black and wliite rarer still. Both types were shot by a party of pig hunters at Whangamomona recently (says the "Taranaki Herald"). One was a slate colour, anil Messrs. K. and E. Meuli, who were members of the party, said that it was the first time in their experience that either of them had seen a wild pig of that colour. During the lour days of the hunting trip more than >!'» pigs were destroyed, and ;ome fine specimens were included. Variety in Horseflesh. Horses of all shapes and sizes, ranging from finely-bred liunters and polo ponies In the roughest of farm narks, competed in the Waitcmata (iymkhana, held at Otiihuhii on Saturday. There were about 7(1 horses altogether, and a crowd of some "ill!) people, who made a picnic of it, hud line entertainment watching the jumping and other events. The polo ball race and polo pony test provided something novel, and the class of horses which were entered angered well for the polo season, which commences this month. Bowled Over. A member of the corps of Auckland trick cyclists came to grief this* morning. He was pedalling merrily along Karangahapc Road with his hands in his pockets when suddenly a small motor vehicle emerged from a street intersection, and over went the cyclist. He was the most bewildered-looking youth in Auckland when he picked himself up and found there were no bones broken, and the witnesses who were quick to gather commented on the fact of the boy's lucky escape. "Too many lads ride with their hands in their pockets," said one of the bystanders. "They forget that they have absolutely no chance to recover their balance unless their hands are free, and the only way to bring them to their senses is to be bowled over." Fishermen All. The colloquial name for Tamaki Drive should not be the waterfront road. It should be "Izaak Walton Way." The number of people who go fishing off the different vantage points on that highwax- is astonishing. Every 20 yards or so someone has cast his line into the harbour, and sits patiently hoping for the be9t. People drive to the road in motor cars, and bring the family and lunch. They ride there on bicycles. They sinvply walk there. They fish off the rocks. They use floating lines underneath the bridges. No sooner are the new dinghy lockers sufficiently far advanced for the fisherman to find a toehold than they are there, too. What they catch is a mystery, but someone must catch something, or the place couldn't bo so popular. Wellington's Fountain of Colour. A central feature of the Centennial Exhibition is the illuminated fountain, the largest ever installed in New Zealand. This can throw water to a great height, and there is no limit to the possible variations of colour. At the head of the avenue, under the tower, is a cascade which will flow over dozens of powerful lamps. The two sound shells in the northern and southern bays arc made up of concentric semi-circles gradually decreasing in size and concealing hundreds of lamps so adjusted as to give slowly-changing rainboweffects. On either side of each shell the walls carry tall vertical ribs studded with exposed bulbs, with floodlighting in between. The whole decorative colour lighting system, with the exception of the fountain, uses bulbs of the primary hues, red, blue and green. Those of each variety are controlled by a central dimming apparatus, and the proportions of the components are slowly changed in a five-minute cycle so that the whole spectrum is traversed from fire-red, through orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, violet, purple, to crimson. Colours obtained in this way are juxtaposed on the standards around the pools and in places on the buildings, so as to give most beautiful and everchanging combinations.